Infant mortality on rise in UK

Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has warned over the rising infant mortality rate in the UK.

According to Press TV, in an interview with the Guardian published on Sunday, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, David Richmond, warned that annually nearly 300 babies die during birth or soon after with a further 1,200 ending up with brain damage or other serious health problems.

Richmond said that there were various reasons for the infant deaths, but with maternity wards struggling with an increase in childbirth over the last 10 years plus a shortage of midwives and doctors, it was “a legitimate question to ask” whether pressure on resources was contributing to the high infant mortality rate.

He said, “These are babies that are born in very poor condition and may have a very slow heartbeat or very restricted breathing or not respond to stimulation.”

He also added that mistakes made by doctors or midwives contributed to the infant mortality rate.